MORGANTOWN — A look of bemusement crossed Will Grier’s face when he was told Texas coach Tom Herman felt he should have received yet another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty during his game-winning 2-point conversion run against the Longhorns.
Grier stuck the ball out as he approached the goal line, then did a slight high-step as he took the final two steps into the end zone.
“I also thought that taunting before you cross the goal line meant that it negated a score,” Herman sniveled after the game. “I’ve got to brush up on my rules and get some questions answered.”
When told what Herman said, Grier just laughed and said, “I hadn’t heard that.”
Grier celebrated raucously after scoring and earned an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty as a result, but said that celebration was the furthest thing from his mind while he was still running. The reason the ball was so far from his body was to make sure it crossed the goal line even if he didn’t.
“I was putting the ball over the line,” Grier said. “I was making sure that I was in before anybody touched me.”
There’s pretty good reason Grier chose the “loaf of bread” method over diving head-first. Last year, he was lost for the season when he attempted to dive for the pylon against Texas and broke his hand.
“Pylons have been bad to me in the past,” Grier said. “I was just making sure it was in, and nobody was really close to me at that point. I wasn’t taunting anybody or anything. It was exciting that we scored.”
